Singer-songwriter Anastacia has described US gun laws as “antiquated”, in the wake of the mass shooting at a school in Texas.
At least 19 children and two adults have been reported dead after a teenage gunman opened fire at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
The I’m Out of Love singer told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “It really is just so antiquated, and our advances of technology and guns have become so beyond our founding fathers.”
'I have hope but this has been a long time. No matter how many [mass shootings] we have, what they say is – our thoughts and prayers, we feel so bad – and I'm like you don't.'@AnastaciaMusic reacts to the school shooting in Texas which has left 21 dead. pic.twitter.com/IEFkgV1nqA
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) May 25, 2022
Anastacia, who lives in Florida, spoke to presenters Richard Madeley and Susanna Reid about the history of gun laws in America, saying: “Second amendment rights say you’re allowed to bear arms, not machinery that’s going to kill and mow down people.
“The arms that I think you should be allowed as a handgun, I think you can be allowed a rifle if you want to go shooting if you believe in shooting animals.”
She added: “But my belief is if you need to, and this is part of being an American, I’m OK if you own a gun.
“But a (single) gun wouldn’t have killed that many kids.”
She also reflected on the contrast between the legal drinking age in the country in contrast to the age at which an individual is legally able to purchase a firearm.
“(I’m) completely confused as to why America is so anti, you can’t drink till 21 but we really think you should start using an assault rifle at 18.
“That would be a good idea.
“You know, especially when you’re not quite grown, at least at 21 you feel like there’s a couple more years of maturity.”
The shooting is the deadliest at a US primary school since the Sandy Hook shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, in which 20 children and six adults were killed almost a decade ago.
When asked by Madeley if she thinks there will be changes made to American gun laws in an effort to prevent similar incidents from repeatedly occurring in the country, Anastacia, 53, said she has “hope” but is not confident.
“I really wish,” she said.
“I have hope. But this has been a long time.
“I don’t know how many, I don’t know if I can count or quantify, I’d love to know the number of mass shootings we’ve had in our existence, because there’s too many.
“And no matter how many we have, what they say is ‘our thoughts and prayers, we feel so bad,’ and I’m like you don’t, you don’t feel so bad because we can change the laws.”
The singer, who is going on tour in the UK later this year to celebrate 22 years since the release of her first song, added that she does not want people to think all Americans agree with the country’s relaxed gun laws.
She said: “I really want people to know that I don’t believe in that, I’m an American and there’s a lot of Americans that don’t believe in that.”
She added: “But it’s a political thing, and that’s a shame.”
Matthew McConaughey, James Corden, Taylor Swift, Amy Schumer and Chris Evans were also among the famous faces expressing “rage and grief” in the wake of Tuesday’s atrocity.
Good Morning Britain airs every weekday on ITV at 6am.